Dead

•2•

Song: Feel Again- One Republic

Day 1: The Reasons

After Michael had walked Willow home the previous night, he told her that he would be back this morning to begin the 15 days. She was beginning to wonder what had possessed her to agree with this instead of just throwing herself over the railing of the highway.

For all she knew, he just wanted to get her home so he wouldn't have to witness her, first-hand, killing herself. However, when she woke up the next morning to a knocking sound at her front door, she knew he was serious about this.

She rolled out of her bed and pulled her silky black hair into a ponytail, walking through the small house towards the front door. She opened it to Michael, who was wearing some black skinny jeans, a band tee, vans, and a bright smile.

"Why are you here so early?" Willow asked as she adjusted her loose fitting pajamas. Michael just laughed lightly, " Good morning to you too, Sunshine. It's two in the afternoon, I came over earlier but when you didn't answer I went to get us some food."

Willow scrunched her dark eyebrows together in confusion, it was two in the afternoon? Woah.

She moved out of the way and allowed the boy to step into her quiet house as he carried the bags containing the food. She felt odd, how was it that she had met this guy only last night and she was already allowing him into her home, without any type of hesitation?

Easy, she didn't really mind if he was a murderer, less of a public mess she figured. They both took a seat at the kitchen table and Michael dug through the bag and pulled out Panda Express. "I didn't know what you'd like so I just got you chicken and rice," he explained as he slid the take-out across the table to her.

"Thank you," Willow mumbled softly and they both settled into a comfortable silence as they dug into the food in front of them. After a few minutes, Michael cleared his throat and she focused her attention on him, scooting her food away.

"Okay, I know this isn't exactly a pleasant subject but we have to address it eventually. Of course we can't ignore the fact you were moments away from being road kill," he stated quietly. Willow nodded in understanding, he wasn't there to be her friend, he was there to keep her from offing herself.

"So, I assume you want the list of reasons that drove me to be there last night, staring death right into it's cold and harsh eyes ?" She asked and let out a humorless laugh. Though Michael was concerned about the lack of emotion in her dull blue eyes, he nodded.

"You see Michael, when I was 13 my mother passed away, leaving me with my grandparents. A month and a half ago, my grandmother died, leaving me alone. Since I'm considered an adult I am expected to live and behave like one. So while I may be mourning the loss of my family, I am still held to the standards of having a job and paying the bills by society," Willow explained.

Michael was already shocked at the bit of information that she had already told him. He knew something bad must have happened to get her this bad, but he never even began to fathom the possibility of something this bad. He nodded timidly, urging Willow to continue.

"I don't have any friends to stay with me or to talk me through this, I have no close family, I am all alone with stress building up. You want a list? I'm an orphan, I have no friends, I have to support myself along with my anxious and depressive habit, life's just no fun anymore Michael. That's my list, see if you find a single way you can fix that and I'll give you props," She finished her list with a long exhale.

Michael was blown away, he knew this would be difficult. However, when he looked up at the broken girl in front of him with shaky breaths and tears in her crystal blue eyes, he knew fixing her would be worth it. He stood up from his sitting position and walked over to where she sat, eyes focused on the wooden dining table.

He offered Willow his hand and she gave him a skeptical glance before grabbing it and letting him pull her to her feet. "What are we doing?" Willow asked as Michael walked towards the front door. "Objective one: Make life fun," He said as he pulled her out of the door by her hand, shutting the door with a swift kick.

"I'm in pajamas Michael!" Willow argued, but Michael just shook his head and opened the door of his black car for her to get in. "Pajamas are perfectly fine where we are going," He said nonchalantly as he got into the driver's side. She groaned, still confused on how she was so calm around such a stranger.

"I hope you like All Time Low," Michael said and turned the music from his speakers up. Willow, in fact, loved All Time Low with such a passion it was unreal. "Are you kidding me? Who doesn't love them?" Willow joked, Michael just shrugged.

They drove for nearly an hour at least, finally Michael pulled up a dirt road and parked the car near a few others. He ran around to Willow's side and opened the door for her and she said a small "thank you" and Michael nodded slightly. "Where are we?" She asked him, genuinely baffled on where they were.

"You'll see, just keep up," Michael laughed, grabbing one of her hands and took off running ahead of her. She ran behind him, her short legs making it hard for her to keep up to his fast pace, but she managed. Once they made it up a hill, the dirt road had turned into a nice paved walkway.

Michael drug Willow up the path and a large building came into view, Willow's eyes widened at the sight. They made it to the door and Michael pushed open the door, walking up to the counter where a friendly looking old lady stood. "Mikey! It's been ages since I've seen you last, go on back and take the lovely lady with you. Nobody's been in your room since the last time you left," The lady greeted and pulled Michael into an embrace.

Michael lead her down a hallway and towards a big, sturdy looking door. He put a lot of effort into opening the door and the moment Willow stepped in, the beauty of the place hit her. The room was solid glass, obviously thicker than normal and there were little lights hung around the ceiling.

The next thing that caught her eyes, butterflies. There were hundreds of them all in this room, their colorful wings fluttering about. Willow gasped as she watched them all fly around the room so...gracefully. "Michael?" She managed to muster up.

"It's a butterfly sanctuary, I used to come here all the time and I saw a picture of a butterfly you drew in a frame at your house so I assumed you liked them an-" He rambled before Willow cut him off.

"It's perfect, Michael. Thank you so much. You have made today pretty great, it's fun."

"Objective one is continuous throughout the whole 15 days."

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Dear this was long, over 1,200 words, but I really hope you enjoyed it.

Please vote and get this chapter to 5 votes and I'll update again soon loves

-Shelby❤️